Lord Lovel- (Newcastle-on-Tyne) White 1829 Child F
[Robert White's Papers, 1829 and after. Ballads selected from his collectanea by Mr White of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Harvard College Library.]
Lord Lovel- Version F; Child 75 Lord Lovel
Communicated by Mr. Robert White, of Newcastle-on-Tyne.
1 As Lord Lovel was at the stable-door,
Mounting his milk-white steed,
Who came by but poor Nancy Bell,
And she wished Lovel good speed.
2 'O where are ye going, Lord Lovel?' she said,
'How long to tarry from me?'
'Before six months are past and gone,
Again I'll return to thee.'
3 He had not been a twelvemonth away,
A twelvemonth and a day,
Till Nancy Bell grew sick and sad,
She pined and witherd away.
4 The very first town that he came to,
He heard the death-bell knell;
The very next town that he came to,
They said it was Nancy Bell.
5 He orderd the coffin to be broke open,
The sheet to be turned down,
And then he kissd her cold pale lips,
Till the tears ran tricklin down.
6 The one was buried in St. John's church,
The other in the choir;
From Nancy Bell sprang a bonny red rose,
From Lord Lovel a bonny briar.
7 They grew, and they grew, to the height o the church,
To they met from either side,
And at the top a true lover's knot
Shows that one for the other had died.